Daedalus
by CoffeeshopsAndCookies
Summary: "The first thing the girl realises is that she had a nose full of flour. The second thing is that she needs to sneeze. Badly." - when you wake up in the Maze, it feels like your life is over. But for some, it is only just beginning.
1. A Rather Rude Awakening

_Icarus is flying too close to the sun,  
and Icarus' life, it has only just begun,  
and this is how it feels to take a fall,  
and Icarus is flying towards an early grave_

_-Icarus, Bastille_

* * *

The first thing the girl notices is the fact that she has a nose full of flour. The second thing is that she needs to sneeze. Badly. She quickly turns away from the spillage of white powder and manages to clear her airways without disturbing what remains of the cooking ingredient, and stares at the cold grey walls that hold her captive. The box (because it has to be a box of some sort) lurches violently and the girl wonders how she didn't notice that it was moving before. Metal pulleys creaked and groaned somewhere in the distance, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when an angry snort rang out behind her. The girl chuckled when she realised it was just a pig. A pig...the first thing that pops into her blank mind is a completely useless piece of information about an animal. It was obvious that she was either a) an idiot, or b) someone who _really_ needed to get her head out of the clouds because she was in a box going to who knows where and _oh god what if there was something bad at the end of this journey?! _Something knotted in her stomach as she stared uneasily at the roof. It may have been the arrogant side of her talking, but she got the feeling that she wasn't often wrong. _Great,_ she thought bitterly, _the second bit of information she had gathered was just as irrelevant as the last. _

Not seeing the point in sitting around doing nothing, she stood up and began to investigate her surroundings. Besides, if there really was something that wanted to hurt her on the other side of wherever the hell she was going, there might be something she could use to defend herself. (That was highly unlikely, now that she thought about it. Who would put so much effort into killing a teenage girl?) She decided to continue searching anyway, which was easier said than done. The lift (?) flew past a light every five to ten seconds, but in between it was pitch black, which made seeing almost impossible. And she wasn't going to use touch alone to get around-too risky.

So she flopped down again-slap bang in the middle of the flour. She cursed her stupidity and began brushing her shorts off, barely noticing the brakes deploying and the very obviously male voices drawing nearer.

"I bet he's gonna klunk his pants!"

"That's what you said about the last one, shuck face!"

"Hey! Back off slintheads! I want to see!" Klunk? Shuck? Slint? She had no knowledge of words like those existing! Who the hell was out there?

The doors above her were pulled open and _everything was so loud _and _it was so bright and-_someone had grabbed her arm and was leading her away.

Maybe he was gripping her too tightly, or maybe she was just paranoid, but she really didn't like the way things seemed to be going and would later blame disorientation on what happened next.

She spun the teen (why did he look so young? Why did they all look so young?) away from her and kneed him where she knew it would really hurt; shoved her way past the people at the edge of the crowd and began to sprint as though her life depended on it.

She was _running _and she was _flying _and _she was nearly free the door is right there run-_

A mess of blonde hair and long limbs ploughed into her from the side, forcing her to the ground and sending her skidding across long blades of grass and rocky ground (the t-shirt she was wearing didn't offer much protection for her back. Or for anything else really.)

The first thing she noticed about the boy currently sprawled on top of her was that he was _really hot_. (She knew that there was a time and a place to admire boys, and after being tackled by one in a strange place full of strange people wasn't one of them; but seriously, wow. Those cheekbones could cut glass.) The second thing was that his hand was in a very awkward place and she was going to slap him if he didn't _move it right this moment-_

He got up pretty damn quickly when he saw the look on her face.

"Sorry 'bout that, Greenie." He grinned sheepishly at her, and extended his hand towards her. She slapped the appendage away and climbed to her feet herself. She wasn't going to accept help from people she didn't know. Especially not pretty strangers who feel the urge to tackle newbies the minute they decide that they want to leave. "Look, Greenbean. See that?" he pointed at the opening she had been aiming for. "That right there is a death trap. You want to survive in this place? _Stay the hell away from that maze._" The girl looked at him questioningly. His eyebrows furrowed, and he opened his mouth to explain (oh, who was she kidding! He was probably going to tell her off more) but another boy came waddling up, yelling in her general direction with an extremely squeaky voice.

"Hey! You! Yes, you! Girlie! _Why the shuck did you hit me!" _oh. It was the boy from before. She grimaced internally and prepared herself for an argument. Pretty boy paled and hissed at her

"You hit Gally?" she didn't get a chance to respond, as the boy stormed up and shoved her to the ground. She had the feeling that this would soon become a common occurrence with her.

"Are you deaf or something, Greenie? _Answer the question!"_ she winced and pushed herself up; preparing a scathing remark for the idiot who felt the need to yell everything, when blondie decided to come to her rescue (she would deny ever needing his help later on)

"Gally, she's just scared, it's not her fault-"

"Not her fault? The hell it isn't, slinthead! She hit me on purpose-"

"You frightened her! She's just arrived, you can't blame her for lashing out-"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I can shuck face!"

"Actually, I'm not that surprised she decided to run after seeing your face."

"Are you trying to tell me something, Newt?" So pretty boy actually had a name._ Newt_. She tested it out in her mind. It suited him somehow.

"I'm trying to tell you that you're an ugly shank who barely has the brainpower to compute basic emotions, so it's not a huge surprise that she's terrified of you!" a crowd was starting to gather around the duo, and the girl rubbed her arms nervously

"Take that back or I swear I'll-" the girl was beginning to get sick of them bickering like schoolchildren, and decided to intervene before things got violent

"OI! I can speak for myself, thanks!" both boys gaped at her, neither bothering to hide their shock at being interrupted. "And I don't appreciate you talking about me like I'm not here. I'm a person, not a doll, ladies, but by all means continue to fight. Just get someone who will actually talk to me first!"

The boy she had hit-Gally, she thought he was called-did a rather impressive chameleon impression, turning red, then blue, then purple. He stepped forward threateningly when-

"That's enough Gally." A dark skinned boy who practically radiated authority stepped forward.

"But Alby," the boy whined, "she needs to be taught a lesson! She nearly ran into the Maze-"

"But Newt stopped her. She won't be punished for something she never got the chance to do. 'Sides, didn't you try to run too?" he at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

"That's different." The boy muttered.

"It isn't and you know it. Now, Greenbean, let's get you sorted out. Leo here'll show you where you're sleeping" a boy –Leo, probably- nodded at her and gestured for her to follow him. And what else could she do but comply?

* * *

"-that's the Bloodhouse, where we raise, feed and eventually kill the animals what are sent up." The girl thought back to the pig and shuddered. She wondered if that was what they were too, animals sent to be slaughtered. Leo carried on, oblivious to her thoughts on the place they were stuck in. "And that's the Homestead, where all the Gatherings happen. And there are the Deadheads, where you'll sleep. Normally, Greenies sleep over there, but since you're the only girl I think you need some space from the rest of us." He looked like he was going to say something else, but she stopped him and swiftly interrupted

"What do you mean I'm the only girl?" Leo scratched his head nervously, sighing

"I mean that everyone else is of the male gender" she stared. He couldn't be serious. She stared into his eyes, searching for any hint of a lie; but there was nothing.

"So...do you want to continue?" the girl nodded, suddenly tired of standing still. "Ok, so that's the kitchen, where Frypan works. He might look odd, but he's the best damn cook we have. And there's where the Track-Hoes work-" she let him babble on, content to listen for now. "Alby'll give you a better tour tomorrow, but you should be able to get around with what I've told you today just fine. Oh, and I forgot to ask earlier, what's your name?" the girl froze. The wracked her mind, trying to find an answer to the seemingly simple question.

"I don't know." To her surprise, Leo grinned at her.

"That's ok Greenie, no one remembers at first. It'll come back eventually."

* * *

Later that night there was some sort of welcoming party, and everyone was invited. The girl spent the first half hour lingering in the shadows with Leo (who kept teasing her because she had a strange accent-which was pretty similar to Newt's, actually), smiling and waving awkwardly at everyone who glanced in her direction (which was pretty much everyone, but still). She would have left before that, but Newt kept catching her eye. After catching him staring for the fourth time, Leo decided to abandon her, winking flirtatiously as he left, and telling her to 'not stay up too late, cause she needed her beauty sleep'. Asshat. Eventually Newt took pity on her and invited her over, but she sat, stiff as a board until he nudged her and told her to loosen up, laughing the whole time. Tale by tale and joke by joke, she started relaxing, until she was laughing with him. Once you got past the newbie-tackling tendencies, he was pretty fun to be around.

"-so Gally actually ended up running into a wall? We're talking about the same person, right?" Newt nodded, a bemused smile painted on his lips.

"He klunked his pants twice before we got him to calm down. Don't tell him I told you this though; he'll probably smother me in my sleep to protect his reputation as the toughest shank in the Glade." The girl snorted, trying to picture a guy with feet the size of Gallys sneaking around silently. She opened her mouth to share her thoughts, but was cut off by a shrill groaning sound coming from outside the walls. All the blood rushed from her companion's face, and the girl felt a shiver run down her spine.

"What was that?" she questioned. Newt took a deep, slightly shaky breath before replying.

"That, greenie, is the reason we don't go into the maze after nightfall. We call 'em Grievers." That left more questions than it answered, but she deduced that it must have been seriously scary to induce such a reaction from the boy beside her.

"Can they get in?" her mind went to the giant openings in the sheer walls encircling the glade.

"Nah. The doors close at night, otherwise this place would be swarming with them right about now. Don't worry Greenie, so long as you stay in the Glade, you're safe. " that did little to reassure her however, and the light, carefree mood from moments ago had disappeared. The Maze was emitting other sounds, more earthy and natural sounding than the Griever.

"And that would be?"

"The Maze. The paths change every night. Those guys" he pointed to several athletic looking boys near the bonfire "are called Runners. They go into the Maze every day, mapping it and trying to find a way out." He took a swig from a jar filled with a suspicious looking amber liquid before continuing. "And I'm one of them." The girl sat up straight, her bruised back protesting defiantly.

"You're joking, right?" she exclaimed incredulously. Why would someone as easygoing as Newt choose to do something so dangerous? "Wait, why were you here today? Shouldn't you have been out there?"

"The last time a greenie showed up he went straight into the Maze. Got stung by a Griever. We had to exile him because he tried to kill Gally. Not that I blame him, Gally can be a serious pain in the arse when he wants to be. So, from now on, a runner stays behind to catch any runaway greenies." The girl nodded. His tale made sense.

'_Just a stupid fairy tale' _a foreign voice whispered in her head, accompanied by a splitting headache and the only significant piece of information she had remembered all day. _Icarus...her name was Icarus! _She relayed this to the blonde boy sitting beside her, and he smiled so brightly he could have lit up the whole shucking Glade on his own.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Icarus. I have the feeling that this is going to be the start of something beautiful."


	2. In Which Grievers Are Terrifying

**Hello! I didn't expect this much attention! Thank you for commenting, and thanks to all those who decided to take a look at this! All of you! And thank you for voting Briianna! I adore the name Icarus, but it is relevant to the story**

**AN 2: ok, so you might have noticed that it says I updated last night. I did, but when I copied and pasted this from my wattpad account, it came out as code. So if you notice anything that looks like it shouldn't be there, please tell me**

* * *

_Icarus is flying too close to the sun,_

_and Icarus' life, it has only just begun,_

_and this is how it feels to take a fall,_

_and Icarus is flying towards an early grave_

_-Icarus, Bastille_

* * *

When Icarus woke up the next morning, it was to a pounding headache, a sore back and the eerie silence of the Deadheads resting place. A shiver ran up her spine, and she shuddered violently. There was something about this place...it seemed almost...ghostly.

Haunted. Yes, that was the word she was looking for. She wondered why she'd ever need that word in her growing vocabulary. It's not like she'd need it in a place like this-if she ever found out what this place was.

She pushed herself to her feet after spending a few minutes staring at the trees-she thought she saw something _move_-and made her way over to the graves. She ran her hand over the oldest looking marker, reading the name carved onto it. _George_. She wondered what he was like, how he had died, and if it had something to do with the mysterious Maze. It seemed both possible and probable, as Newt had spoken about that place like it was the worst thing in the world. It seemed to be the most dangerous location anyway, and although she hated to admit it to herself, she was incredibly curious about it...she wondered if Nick would include the Maze in his little tour.

"Well you're up early. " Icarus smiled when she heard the voice of her new friend.

"So are you." She turned around to face Newt. He grinned at her.

"Ah, but I have an excuse. I have to get the greenie breakfast."

"Such a gentleman." She retorted sarcastically. He smirked at her, barely suppressing a snort and a snarky reply.

"Shall we Greenbean? " She nodded and they began to make their way out of the forest.

"Cara" he called when she turned towards the kitchen. It took her a moment to realise that he was talking to her.

"Hm?" He beckoned her over to a fogged up window set into the walls of the Maze.

"Wait for it...there! You see that?" He pointed at what looked like a ball of goop with mechanical spider legs sticking out. It let out a low groaning sound, similar to the one last night. It was obviously a Griever. It didn't look all that threatening, but its bloody reputation preceded it, and made it out to be some unstoppable beast. It moaned again, and with an audible slosh, it turned away from them and climbed the opposite wall.

Neither of them looked away until it disappeared.

* * *

Siggy, or Frypan, was aptly named it seemed, as he made the best food Cara had ever tasted-not that that meant much, as it was the only food she could remember eating. But still, she had no idea that bacon could taste so good.

"So greenie." Newt plonked down beside her with a tray that was practically overflowing. "Today's your first day of work. You'll be with the slicers" Cara didn't like the sound of that.

Winston seemed like a nice enough to guy, but the keeper of the Slicers enjoyed his job a bit too much. Cara groaned as she flopped down just outside the Deadheads clearing. This was going to be a long week.

* * *

The next day she was with the Builders. And guess who was their Keeper? Gally, aka the local asshole who was out for her blood. Thankfully, he was preoccupied with something (Apparently the slicers needed a new building for feeding the animals). It seemed she had a knack for building small scale things like chairs and toys, but when she attempted to fix the roof of the wash house, she made the hole bigger and fell in. Unfortunately for her, Newt was there, and her friend spent the better part of five minutes shrieking incoherently at her and slipping in the shower while she rolled around and laughed (he couldn't look her in the eyes for days after that incident).

After that she went to the Med-Jacks, where Clint had her practice putting in stitches by sewing up the skin of oranges without piercing the soft flesh underneath. She managed to put in some sloppy butterfly stitches eventually, and Clint got her to practice bandaging phoney wounds-which really wasn't the best idea, as she ending up cutting off the blood circulation in his arm, and he lost all feeling in it for several hours. _Whoops_. (Leo loved it. He wouldn't stop smiling at her.)

He sent her back to her sleeping space, complaining about the marks the bandage had left on his arm. Who knew men could be such big babies?

The cooks loved her, up until it was revealed that she couldn't make anything without setting it on fire. Hell, she managed to burn soup! Cara was promptly kicked out of the kitchen so they could prepare something edible for lunch.

The Track-Hoes didn't seem to be too happy about giving her sharp objects, so they sent her to water the flowers and fruit bearing vines. It was so painfully easy a one legged duck could have done it-but she managed to kill off everything she touched. Apparently some idiot had decided to prank her by switching out the water with liquid nitrogen (she had no idea where they'd got it from, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know) and she was now on the receiving end of Nick's temper-which was not fun. Even though she had insisted that it wasn't her fault that the frosty liquid had found its way into the watering cans, he threw her in the slammer and forbade anyone from talking to her. After three days, he took pity on her and let her out, but made sure that she would never become a Track-Hoe or a Bagger ("No one wants a guard that will cause chaos" Newt had explained at breakfast. She had scoffed and went on to her next trial job-being a Slopper)

There was no way she could mess up something as simple as cleaning. The keeper of the Sloppers-Xander-insisted that she worked with a 16 year old kid called Will who didn't seem to know that her eyes weren't located in her chest. He kept trying to hit on her, which she ignored at first, but when he started getting all touchy-feely she reacted. She seemed to be a violent person by nature, because when he grabbed her shoulder for the _third shucking time_ she hit him. Hard. (She actually thought she heard a few bones in his nose break. Ouch). Nick was extremely pissed when he found out, and even though Cara swore that Will was exaggerating, he threw her in the Slammer again.

("Back in here again, greenie? It's been what, 5 hours? That must be a new record!"

"Shut up Danny!

Her cell was now not-so-affectionately dubbed her 'home away from home')

* * *

Running was the only thing left to try, and she had Newt to teach her. The day consisted of memory games, and laps of the Glade (Newt laughed when she finished three circuits of it and she collapsed, proclaiming that she would never breathe normally again and her limbs were turning into jelly. She swore it was his way of getting revenge for the shower incident). She thought it was her most successful 'interview' so far, considering the fact that she hadn't managed to set anything on fire, and the only person she had hurt was herself (a few scrapes and bruises, with a little embarrassment on top. Thank you not blondie). Newt did, however, promise to put in a good word for when the council of keepers voted. How he would manage to make her look he'd she had no idea, as she had managed to (accidentally) maim someone from half of the departments, and destroyed something from most of the others.

Now, Cara understood that everyone had their own flaws, but she seemed to have one hell of a lot of them.

...well, at least she wasn't a psycho like Winston, who somehow enjoyed slicing up little pigs.

* * *

When morning came around, she spent what felt like hours pacing outside the Homestead, listening to the hum of voices filtering through the door. Time felt like it was slowing with every second that ticked by.

Why were they taking so long?

Wait, were the voices getting louder? She leaned towards the door, but hurriedly leaped back as the thump of multiple pairs of thick boots hitting the floor reached her ears.

She did not want to take a door handle to the face, thank you very much.

She jumped back just in time, and Gally stormed out with a scowl plastered over his face. (That seemed to be his default expression). Everyone flooded out after him, and Newt came bounding out behind them, grinning like a madman.

"Greenie! Guess who's the knew runner?" Cara gaped at him. She figured she'd be with the slicers - the running trial day wasn't as bad as the others, but it was still bad. That boy must've had a silver tongue.

"You're starting tomorrow-don't be late. I had to call in a few favours from Minho, so don't waste this opportunity to prove yourself"

Cara just nodded, still processing things. Today...today was her lucky day.


	3. Running is Wicked

**I'm thinking of setting a deadline? Maybe I'll update every other week. Thoughts? I also went back and changed the leader to Nick, who died before Thomas arrived. ('Let this half shank be a warning to you all')**

* * *

_I don't know what we're doing,_

_Don't know what we've done_

_But the fire is coming_

_So I think we should run_

_-Run, Daughter_

* * *

Cara was just about ready to shoot the birds roosting somewhere above her. They woke her up at an ungodly hour, and refused to let her go back to sleep. They were driving her crazy! Luckily for them, Leo showed up with a cup of coffee (Danny introduced it to her when she was in the slammer - she was now addicted.)

After consuming the blessed beverage, she tidied up her hair, straightened her clothes and made her way to the mess hall, where the rest of the Runners were waiting. She swiped a pancake from the table and grabbed a few sandwiches and a bottle of water for her lunch. Minho jogged up to her with a small backpack-harness thing and a pair of silvery running shoes, both of which she took gratefully. She shoved the food in the backpack and tied her shoes quickly, wondering why they looked so worn, and who had worn them before her.

"Okay! So, as you know, the she-bean has been sorted into our group." Minho announced. "However, as we already have a runner for each section, we'll have to double up. Any volunteers?"

Newt and a tall, blonde kid stepped forward (she thought he was called Ben). Minho grinned at her and sent her over to Ben ("Newt needs to stop hogging all the greenies." Ben informed her with a smirk.

"Slim it shank" Newt muttered grumpily.)

Minho took her to the weapons room (hidden underneath the map room-she wondered how a bunch of teenaged boys had managed to make an underground hidey hole without any of the other Gladers noticing), where she picked the biggest knife she could find-and then promptly dropped it.

It landed inches from her foot._ Maybe I should start with something smaller_, she thought. She started rifling through the smaller blades, and settled on a pair that looked like they were meant to be strapped to her forearms. They were too advanced for them to have been created in the Glade, so she assumed whoever had sent them up here had sent them up one month. It was a good thing too, because if she had chosen anything else, she probably would have ended up stabbing herself.

Cara found herself wandering over to the ranged weapons section, even though she didn't know what half of them did, and she'd probably end up shooting herself in the face if she attempted to figure out what they could do. Her gaze was drawn to a somewhat dusty quiver and the discarded bow beside it. _'I wonder..._' she thought._'Ah, shuck it._' It wasn't like anyone was using it. Besides, what was the worst thing that could happen?

Muscle memory was an amazing thing, Cara soon discovered. When she placed an arrow and pulled the string back, she placed her limbs in positions that just felt right. She took a breath...and released. Bullseye. How on earth had she managed that? She managed to destroy everything she touched! She shook off the shock and tried again. And again. _And again_. Every time it was the same result. She stalked up to the target-which was looking more and more like a porcupine with every projectile she she threw at it-and retrieved the weapons. She had wasted enough time already.

Thankfully, Ben was patiently waiting for her.

"You ready greenie?" She nodded. "Then let's go!" He thankfully didn't comment on the weapons she'd chosen. (That earned him several brownie points in her book-that and the fact that he seemed to be crushing on Leo)

In the Maze there were massive signs proclaiming that it was property of the 'World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department' - and strangely, they looked familiar. She wondered if they were the creators. ("They've been here since forever. It's best if you just ignore them, greenie")

* * *

Running wasn't so difficult, but waking up the day after was hellish. Her limbs felt like the slightest touch would make them shatter. When she complained about it to Ben, he laughed and told her to stretch once she got back to the Glade. Surprisingly, it worked. She woke up the next day feeling refreshed and cramp free. But that night she did something she'd never done before: she dreamed.

_"Em, don't do this. You're going to be caught!" A boy, about a year younger than her, protested._

_"Tom, I can't just leave them there to die!" She responded. "They're human beings! Not lab rats!"_

_"I want to help as much as you do, but this is too much! They'll find out-please Emily, I don't want to lose my friend."_

_"I have to do something!" She glanced down at the precious syringes clutched in her hand. "I can't act like you and Reese. It kills me to watch them suffer-and they all know it."_

_"You don't have to do this alone. We can help!"_

_Hesitantly, she nodded, span on her heel and_

-fell off the hammock. Ouch. Cara tried to push herself up, but her foot was still caught in her makeshift bed, and she only managed to flip herself over onto her back. She could see quite a few things she'd never noticed before from that angle, such as some deformed mushrooms close by, a bush weighed down with poisonous looking berries, a silvery bug bot- wait, what?

The thing regarded her with a red-tinted gaze, eyes shuttering like cameras. Slowly, Cara reached for a mushroom, praying to whatever God was listening that it wasn't toxic, and chucked it at the mechanical spy (because that's what it had to be used for), which scampered away pretty quickly. When she finally disentangled herself, she made her way to the kitchen. But she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her...

* * *

**Wow. Much ending. Very awkward. Sorry this took so long. But hey, it's here now! And you should check out From Another Eye by PoinlessDaydreamer if you like Gally, and When Oblivion is Calling Out Your Name by Arno_Dorkian if you want to see more of Ben and Leo. Both are on wattpad, and I've cross-posted this onto it. All of our stories are connected, and will eventually line up. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and goodbye!**


End file.
